House prices continue to rise in Melbourne

By Your Mortgage
2 Jun 2016

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Home prices in Australia’s capital cities continue to rise, with Melbourne leading the charge as its median dwelling price edges closer to the $600,000 mark. The capital city of Victoria remains to be the country’s top performing capital for annual growth for the fifth straight month.

According to CoreLogic RP Data’s Home Value Index for May, home values in Melbourne have risen 13.9 per cent over the past 12 months. This has increased the city’s median home price to $590,000.

However, Sydney is coming close to taking Melbourne’s throne with its dwelling values jumping 6.6 per cent over the past three months, compared to Melbourne’s 2.1 per cent. Sydney’s annual growth rate jumped to 13.1 per cent as a result, giving it a median home price of $782,000—still the most expensive property market in Australia. All other capital cities except Perth also enjoyed price growth last month.

“It seems as if the upcoming election and debate around taxation policy hasn’t been enough to dampen the renewed bounce in home values, with the pace of capital appreciation in the housing market surging in May,” said Tim Lawless, CoreLogic head of research. “This was largely driven by a bounce in Sydney home values.”

Last month’s strong growth was also supported by high clearance auction rates especially in Melbourne and Sydney, where the sale rate was above 70 per cent.

“Mortgage-related activity across CoreLogic valuation platforms has also shown a positive trend over the month, with activity up to 3.2 per cent,” Lawless said.